Doug Feith’s wiki

Commnter WEC points me towards a section in Doug Feith’s wiki titled “Professional Praise”. Get ready:

Former Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld

“Doug Feith, of course, is without question, one of the most brilliant individuals in government. He is – he’s just a rare talent. And from my standpoint, working with him is always interesting. He’s been one of the really the intellectual leaders in the administration in defense policy aspects of our work here.”^[17]

[....]

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine General Peter Pace

Doug Feith is a patriot. It irritates me, not that anyone would question his thoughts or his policies – that is absolutely fair game – but that anyone would question his loyalty or his motives. I have watched this man for four years. He cares only about what is best for the United States. He works hard to understand as much as he can about the policy arena, and he works hard to articulate what he believes to be true.^[20]

I guess the question is this: would anyone who wasn’t a colossal fuck-up have a section in his Wiki titled “Professional Praise”?

Either you’re slinging crack rock or you got a wicked jump shot

It’s too bad the “Boiler Room” sucked, because this trailer tells the economic story of the last however many years in 70 seconds better than anything else I’ve seen, and the Biggie quote is right on the money as far as capturing the zeitgeist. (The Ben Affleck as Alec Baldwin scene is truly unforgivable, though.)

Not A Top Chef Open Thread

No soup for you, Laura W.

Also, not sure how this has happened, but I had an unopened copy of Dark Knight that has completely gone AWOL. So, instead, I decided to watch the Big Lebowski. Also missing. If these were in any way edible, I would be looking at Tunch. As it is, they are missing.

DeBushification

I believe that many of the Bush administration’s worst failures can be attributed to the fact that they staffed the federal bureaucracy with cronies and idiots. A FEMA not led by Michael Brown would have reacted differently to Katrina, a DoD not led by Rummy, Wolfie, DiRita, and the dumbest fucking person on the planet wouldn’t have fucked up the planning of Iraq so badly, an economic team not led by clowns like Chris Cox and John Snow would have done a better job of dealing with the then looming financial crisis.

Of course, the Villagers don’t care about this kind of thing. It involves smart, faceless, unglamorous bureaucrats, not dashing mavericks or Texas cowboys or wise old men from the heartland. But my gut feeling is that DeBushifying the federal bureaucracy is going to be a lot more of a problem than anyone thinks. You’ve probably read about the Bush appointees who burrowed themselves into nonpolitical positions at TPM. But what caught my eye is the hard-on that David Brooks and Mike Gerson have for the Bush Global AIDS Coordinator (Mark Dybul) who was recently let go. Brooks wrote about how great it was that it looked like Obama was keeping him on, Gerson threw a hissy fit when Obama let him go.

Gerson and Brooks are the types you have to keep an eye on. They’re sneaky fuckers; unlike, say, Charles Krauthammer and George Will, who are mostly peddling their own crazy brand of nonsense, Gerson and Brooks are generally working a long con. You can be pretty sure they didn’t get all hot and bothered about Dybul at the same time by accident.

So watch out for a lot of media backlash as Obama starts kicking the Bush lackeys to the curb. Remember Travelgate.

And there’s one other thing here to keep in mind, and I don’t want to push this too far (for fearing of sounding like a nut), but no public Republican that I know of has renounced and rejected (or whatever it was Obama was supposed to do with Jeremiah Wright) Rush Limbaugh’s statements about wanting Obama to fail. I’ll bet that most Bush appointees who remain in Washington want Obama to fail as well, but getting them all out is going to be tricky.

Does Anyone Pay Taxes Anymore?

Seriously. I got nothing.

The Obligatory PJ Media Post

So I don’t have to keep answering this repeatedly in the comments, yes, I will no longer be with the PJ Media network starting 1 April. They are apparently moving on/the business model didn’t work/whatever. Life goes on.

I understand there is an inordinate amount of bad feelings and some hostility being chucked around, and I want no part in it. Roger Simon and the others at PJ always kept their word to me. From where I sit, PJ Media was an ad portal that provided advertising content for this site, and that was about it. I never understood claims at the beginning of this several years ago that somehow I was “losing my independence” or the rest of the nonsense for signing up with them. As I have stated repeatedly, maybe others had different experiences, but the company was great to me. They always kept their word, their staff was top-notch and great to work with (and I really hope they find jobs quickly/keep their jobs), and Roger Simon was a great person to do business with the past couple years. I signed a contract through the end of March, PJ Media and I are both honoring it, and they are moving on to something different. This sort of thing happens hundreds of thousands of times every day all over the world, and is really rather unremarkable.

And that really is all there is to it. I thought that when PJ started, there would be more original reporting from people on issues in their region, but that never seemed to materialize. Regardless, I have no complaints and wish them well.

As to any changes to this website, well, just like when we moved to PJ, there really won’t be any. I might go back to blogads (digging up the old account info will be fun), might throw up some other ads from teh google or amazon, or maybe I will just use the sidebars for pet pics and to display the Super Bowl trophy we the Steelers are going to win tomorrow.

Long story short- I’ll still be an idiot on 1 April and this site will still be here.

Something Wrong with teh Google?

Every search I do comes back with a “This site may harm your computer.”

*** Update ***

Fixed!

Open Thread

What she said. And before Larry Kudlow starts whining about stifling creativity and what not, let us remember this is only for people receiving TARP money. By definition, they gave already failed.

Get ready for World War V

When I joined the Red State Strike Force, I began receiving emails from Newsmax as well. And I have to say that Newsmax emails make Erick Erickson sound like Thomas Jefferson. Here’s a taste of one of the articles they were pushing:

The Coming War with Iran: 6 Days in Hell!

Newsmax Magazine’s blockbuster issue has major cover stories, including an exclusive special report by Newsmax contributing editor and Iran expert Kenneth R. Timmerman, “Six Days to War,” which lays out the scenario likely to unfold if the U.S. and Iran go to war.

[....]

As the Bush administration ratchets up the pressure, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs says the military option is still on the table and warns Iran that the U.S. can launch massive strikes using Navy and Air power.

There’s a lot of problems with this article, but let’s just pick on this one: the article is dated January 31, 2009 and writes “As the Bush administration ratchets up the pressure”. Mostly, though, I just like the picture.

Here’s some of the other important issues we’ll see in the next issue of Newsmax:

* Michael Savage mulls candidacy.
* Michael Jackson may convert to Islam.
* Reverse mortgages are often a smart choice.
* China bans adoptions to the obese.
* Rich Little: Don’t knock Bush.
* Dr. Laura: A great marriage isn’t hard work.

All of this makes me ponder Don DeLillo’s classic question: were people this dumb before television?

News Radio

Someone mentioned News Radio the other day in the comments, and I decided to borrow the first two seasons from a friend and re-watch it (plus there are some I missed, I am sure). At any rate, I have always loved the show, but I had forgotten just how funny and how good the show was. I just finished episode three, Smoking, and the scene where they snap on Andy Dick’s character Matthew is so funny i watched it four times and have tears streaming down my face.

Such a good show. And Jimmy James has my nod as one of the greatest all-time sitcom characters.

Sharptonmania!

Dear Republicans,

Obama is not kicking your ass because he is black.

best,

TF

ps. I assume that you hope to keep a tight leash on the new antic-prone chairman (e.g., see below) and not look like patronizing racists. Good luck with that.

It’s hard indoors for a pimp

This cracks me up:

Under current (Rhode Island) state law, prostitution is legal in Rhode Island as long as it takes place indoors. Only streetwalkers, their pimps and the customers flagging them down can be charged.

[....]

University of Rhode Island women’s studies Prof. Donna M. Hughes said that if prostitution remains legal indoors, “Rhode Island will soon be the sex industry capital of the United States.”

[....]

“It’s really a travesty it’s allowed indoors,” state police Lt. Col. Steven G. O’Donnell said. “Make no mistake about it, people take advantage of that, including the strip clubs.” And some spas and massage parlors are brothels, he said. The “loophole” in state law “puts a stamp of legitimacy” on groups of people we don’t want joining our economy, he said.

If you’re at all familiar with Rhode Island government, this doesn’t surprise you at all. One mayor of Providence was put back into office by the voters after pleading no contest to having tortured a man he thought was his wife’s lover (yes, he was a Republican).

Update: I don’t know whether this is a good thing or not, but I bet that it’s a result of strip club owners having paid somebody off. That’s all I mean about Rhode Island government.

Thank Goodness the Adults Are In Charge

And this time I really mean it:

GOP leaders — led by John Boehner and Eric Cantor — have spent days bashing the economic stimulus package being touted by President Obama and Democrats because it doesn’t sufficiently cut taxes.

But is it possible that the alternative plan House Republicans unveiled as a more responsible approach earlier this week would have actually raised taxes for untold numbers of Americans?

That’s the surprising claim that House Democratic staffers who have taken a look at the GOP plan are now making. They insist to me that the Republicans did some almost comic number shuffling in drawing up their proposal, the upshot of which would be that the actual tax bill would go up for many.

I understand the psychological need for the Republicans to feel relevant, and I understand their opposition to spending, but really, we would be so much better off if the Republicans just took a little breather, got themselves pulled together and composed, and stopped being the crazy uncle at the holiday dinner ranting insanely about everything. These guys need to get their act together and figure out that the “loyal” in loyal opposition is fealty to the country first, and not the party.

Will he change his name to Ravene? “Thick in the air like locusts”

Maryland’s Michael Steele was just elected chair of the RNC as many of you have heard. You may remember Steele’s “Scarlet R” imbroglio and the delightful ad he ran about puppies when he ran for Senator, but what I remember best is his campaign’s “recruitment of out-of-state homeless men to hand out misleading campaign literature in African-American neighborhoods” (from TPM):

On the eve of this month’s election, the mailers began landing in Prince George’s mailboxes. One was a glossy red, black and green flier—the colors that represent African American power—sporting pictures of County Executive Jack B. Johnson, his predecessor, Wayne K. Curry and past NAACP president and former U.S. Senate candidate Kweisi Mfume.

Above the pictures of the three Democrats the flier read, “Ehrlich-Steele Democrats,” and underneath it announced: “These are OUR Choices.”

None of the three candidates had endorsed the governor, and only Curry had declared his support for Steele.

There were other fliers, too. A similar “Democratic” guide with Ehrlich’s and Steele’s photo on the front appeared in Baltimore. Another distributed in Baltimore County identified the Republican candidate for county executive as a Democrat.

Of course, these stunts didn’t work so well: Steele was crushed by Ben Cardin and Ehrlich lost badly to Tommy Carcetti even after the whole serial killer hoax debacle in Baltimore.

Update: I forgot about the whole oreos story too:

According to numerous reports in the Washington Times, Steele was “pelted” with Oreo cookies, which signifies a racial slur for being black on the outside and white on the inside.

Times reporter S.A. Miller is one of the writers who referenced the incident in news articles on more than one occasion. Miller told WTOP he attended the event in 2002 and saw Steele get hit with cookies.

When pressed, Miller said he couldn’t swear in court that Steele did get hit with cookies because he didn’t actually see it happen.

On Tuesday, Steele told WTOP that he was never hit with Oreos and said the incident has been exaggerated.

I like this part especially from an Ehrlich spokesman:

“It was raining Oreos. They were thick in the air like locusts. I was there.”

Rush and them

Via Mark Blumental (via Ben Smith), Democracy Corps has a favorability poll on Rush Limbaugh and other conservative luminaries:

What that means is that even among the troglodytes who like Fox News, only about half like Rush Limabugh. Ouch.

Blumenthal speculates about the new “Rush or Obama” ads:

My guess is that some Democratic sponsored focus group conducted this week confirmed that voters in the middle perceive Rush Limbaugh as the antithesis to the Obama “bipartisanship brand,” and as such, are not unhappy to see Limbaugh’s profile in this fight rise.

“[B]ipartisanship” is as much a brand as any conceivable Washington reality. These House Republicans, as is traditional when a caucus shrinks, are more conservative, and in safer seats, than their predecessors. The notion that they’d wind up anything other than extremely rare allies of the Democratic President was always unlikely. Obama doesn’t need their votes. But his visible, cable-television-grabbing bipartisan gestures are aimed at cementing his hold on that brand, and ensuring when Republicans and Democrats go their separate ways, Republicans are seen as the partisan ones.

It’s not a particularly novel tactic, but it places the House Republicans in an uncomfortable spot. As Chris Cillizza wrote in a very smart piece today, their party is in danger of being defined as pure, intransigent, Rush-Limbaugh-style opposition, and Obama’s visit to the Hill may give their image a further shove down that road.

Mega dittos.